BCSC panel finds North Vancouver man failed to file insider reports

2015/91December 14, 2015

Vancouver – A British Columbia Securities Commission panel has found that a North Vancouver man who was the CEO and a director of two B.C. companies failed to file insider reports as required by securities laws.

Between 2011 and 2013, Mark Aaron McLeary, a resident of North Vancouver, failed to file insider reports for trades he made in two companies for which he served as CEO and director. The two companies – Silver Sun Resource Corp. and Newton Gold Corp. – were B.C. reporting issuers with their shares traded on the TSX Venture Exchange during the period of McLeary’s trades. Silver Sun’s shares were halted from trading as of June 2013.

The decision revealed that McLeary conducted his trades of the companies through a Panamanian brokerage account – opened with a corporation he had created with nominees named to the account – and Canadian brokerage accounts. McLeary admitted that the trading of Silver Sun and Newton Gold shares in the Panamanian account were not reported in insider reports in a timely manner. He also admitted that some of the trading in the two companies conducted in his Canadian accounts were also not timely reported in insider reports.

In 2014, McLeary filed updated insider reports which included previously unreported trades in the companies after the unreported trades were uncovered by BCSC staff in another investigation.

The decision also revealed that McLeary was causing Silver Sun to issue press releases on its business activities during the mid-and-latter part of 2011, while he was selling Silver Sun shares in the offshore account and failing to report that trading activity.

The panel directed the parties to make submissions on sanctions according to the schedule set out in the findings.

You may view the findings decision on our website www.bcsc.bc.ca by typing Mark Aaron McLeary or 2015 BCSECCOM 444 in the search box. Information regarding disciplinary proceedings can be found in the Enforcement section of the BCSC website.

The British Columbia Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating capital markets in British Columbia through the administration of the Securities Act. Our mission is to protect and promote the public interest by fostering:

A securities market that is fair and warrants public confidence

A dynamic and competitive securities industry that provides investment opportunities and access to capital